Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 486 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lessened its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 166,575 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 486 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $77,980,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,975,754,000 after acquiring an additional 410,736 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,194,298 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,846,289,000 after acquiring an additional 142,036 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 29.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,605,679 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $706,804,000 after acquiring an additional 362,515 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,244,324 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $547,739,000 after acquiring an additional 79,263 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 74.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $517,028,000 after buying an additional 502,060 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total transaction of $322,239.42. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $917,317.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $573,321.01. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total transaction of $322,239.42. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,024 shares in the company, valued at $917,317.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,147. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $480.45 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $414.56 and a twelve month high of $496.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $462.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $465.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $10.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.50 EPS. Analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.67 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $1.87 per share. This represents a $7.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NOC. TheStreet cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $503.00.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense technology company in the United States, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and internationally. The company's Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, and sustains aircraft systems. This segment also offers unmanned autonomous aircraft systems, including high-altitude long-endurance strategic ISR systems and vertical take-off and landing tactical ISR systems; and strategic long-range strike aircraft, tactical fighter and air dominance aircraft, and airborne battle management and command and control systems.